Toliopoulos: “There is talent in the National Team, it needs patience and trust”

THE Men’s national team left today (26/2) in the morning for Riga, where tomorrow afternoon (27/2, 19.30) he will face Latvia in his last match of the qualifiers World Cup. THE Vasilis Toliopoulos returns to the country and the field where he made his debut with the Men’s National Team, but he does not hide that he enjoyed his second participation much more, in the great victory over Serbia on Friday in Liosia. The Aris guard believes that it has been proven that Greek basketball has talent, but these kids need patience and trust to perform. His interview in detail on the EEC website:

– Do you agree with something that sounds a bit paradoxical, that a victory without ranking significance was one of the really important ones of the National team for a multitude of reasons?

“Yes, it may not have mattered in terms of points, but it meant a lot to us as a team. On the one hand no one likes to lose or to go to play indifferent, on the other hand we all, players and coaches wanted to show that we have that character that the national team requires in every situation and I really believe that we showed great personality, we made a great passion, we showed how much we wanted it.”

– For you, it was the second participation with Andron, could it be compared to the unforgettable joy of the first appearance for everyone?

“To tell you the truth, this participation of mine was much nicer than the debut, which took place in the midst of the coronavirus in Riga, in an empty stadium. We had a stadium full of fans of the national team, we had our families, it was really a very beautiful experience. The pitch was very intense, the crowd was amazing and we thank them very much for coming and helping us get this win.”

– Beyond the self-evident motivation of winning, now approaching the Universal mind… does it also travel there as an extra big motivation?

“I think that every one of the guys who are here these days would like to claim a place in the preparation of the National team and before the World Cup. But I don’t think that was the first thing on anyone’s mind, we got together on Monday and we said clearly that we want to challenge and win both games that we had in front of us.”

– From a match it is understood that no conclusions can be drawn, but it is always useful for the many to see that there is a general group of players who believe in it, fight for it, can do it and declare themselves “present”?

“There is certainly talent in this team and in the players who come a little further back and in us who are here there are talented and capable of standing in the National Team. Support is needed from the world, since when you first enter the national team there is anxiety, perhaps even excessive passion that can become anxiety, so we have to be patient and trust in the effort”.

– The finale of the long, difficult but successful journey is the match against Latvia. Here, even after the outbreak with the Serbs, the word… fun?

“Yes, but for me fun is what happened with Serbia, that is to face, to fight against a strong opponent, to have tension on the field, that is fun for me. If we’re talking about relaxing a bit and playing more freely then no, because you might lose your game and losing easily is not fun at all. So we don’t have to talk about anything other than going in like the last game, hard, throwing…wood, fighting, that’s the only way it’s going to be fun.”